Abstract

The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between the learning organisation andcompetitive advantage in the service sector. The research analyses four companies from theservice sector to establish the link between learning and competitive advantage. The literaturesuggests that learning organisations are more competitive and better able to cope withchanges in the external environment. The literature provided in this research is based on therelevant theories and concepts surrounding the topic area and has informed the researcher indeveloping the research questions and choosing the research strategy for this study. Twentyorganisations were invited to participate however it was only five that sent in their responses.Time and the location of some of the respondents were constraints in conducting the researchso data was collected via email as it was the most appropriate option available to theresearcher.Overall the findings from this research were in line with what the literature states. Learningcan be and is used as a competitive tool in the organisation to cope with changes in both theexternal and internal environment. However, Contrary to what the literature proposes,individual learning can be just as competitive as collective learning depending on theorganisation’s culture. This leads to the role of culture the learning organisation; culture hasbeen known to facilitate or hinder the learning processes in organisations. This researcherfurther highlights the role of culture in information and knowledge sharing. From the findingsof this research culture plays a major role in the transfer of knowledge and learning within theorganisation.The main conclusion drawn from this research is that although learning can be competitive anorganisation should not rely solely on learning as their competitive advantage but shouldstrive to remain competitive in all other areas of the business using learning in conjunctionwith all other resources in a company.